Rainy Pass to Stevens Pass, 1979 - page 21

Grizzly Peak Summit

I was up at 8:30 AM, but it was 10:30 before I said my goodbyes and set off. Two miles later at Wenatchee Pass I came upon a marker telling me that Stevens Pass was still 17-miles away.

The climb up to Grizzly Peak was very taxing. However since this was going to be my last real big push, I was happy to do it. From various places on Grizzly you can see Heather Lake, Spectacle Lake, Lake Margaret, and Cub Lake.

Looking back at Glacier Peak from along Grizzly Peak

I decided that Lake Janus would make a perfect stopping point for lunch. Whoa – what a descent! But since making the summit of Grizzly I was really trucking. Still, it seemed an eternity before I came down to Janus. It really is a shallow little lake, but it has this real neat log shelter at one end.

Shelter at Lake Janus

I took a very short lunch (one half of the hour I’d promised myself) at the outlet stream. Passing the shelter, I met another PCT hiker. Coming down Grizzly, I’d seen two more. Just past the lake I came upon two hunters, then a lone hiker.

Lake Valhalla was 3.7 miles uphill from Janus, but I blitzed it! I left Janus at 2:30 PM and was at Valhalla at 4 PM. The clouds were rolling in and it was sprinkling a little. I got to the point where I was anticipating the lake around every corner. Finally I crested one last ridge and there it was, on the other side.

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